Kate Sanford writes on the excellent group blog Silicon Valley Moms Blog. This post is a great description of the type of secrets that Silicon Valley citizens try to keep. It's all very much a part of the Silicon Valley culture.

Here are some extracts from: Silicon Valley Moms Blog Silicon Valley Secrets

A few months ago I was interviewed by a 19 year old intern who asked me why people blog in the silicon valley. "Because of the secrets," I said. "It's such a secretive place that we're bursting at the seams."

. . .

Picture an enormous elephant with blonde hair and boobs, lounging in the middle of the living room. Dressed in the finest Fendi wear. Buffing its toenails, with huge clanking bracelets sliding up and down its forelegs. THAT's technology in the valley. The coolest new product - awesome!  Oooh, check it out.  And <insert name here> just started a new company with <insert name here> making <oops, can't tell you> and funded by <insert name here.>  What fun!

. . .

Here are some typical (and real) valley secrets and situations. Do any sound familiar to you?

• In your startup, your working-from-home, equity-paid engineers have stolen the source code and are holding it hostage until you renegotiate their contract, giving them the ability to license it.
• Your best programmer is manic depressive and "codes better" without his meds.
• The president of your company has disappeared and it later comes to light that he's been murdered by a woman who works on the assembly line.
• Your ex-boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse is being investigated for something which you can totally believe and which tickles you mightily.
• One of your executives has a collection of knives, which he likes to play with and often leaves lying around the office.
• One of your coders is having a sex change.
• Things suck and you don't want people to know.
• You're in talks to sell your company for millions of dollars and terrified that information will leak and the deal won't go through.
• The deal went through just as your best friend's company tanks and he loses everything.
• Your best friend's company just sold and your company is tanking.  (What do you talk about over dinner?)
• You went through negotiations and hired a top-level, very well-known firm to prepare the paperwork - they screwed it up and the deal is off. 
• You find out that a competitor’s CEO was part of the swinger’s scene several years ago.
• In a period of insanity, you founded your company yourself. It's three years later, you have maxed out three credit cards, your employees are furious at you, and you're looking as good as you can while you're praying that someone will buy you.
• You are now worth a hundred million dollars and all of your friends are having a hard time financially (as many are in the valley.)